Hawkers across the city — especially at the hubs such as Gariahat, Hatibagan and Chowringhe-New Market area — on Sunday finished the last-minute preparations to resume business from Monday. At Gariahat, hawkers were asked to take position on the pavements following social distancing norms. Union leaders and cops trained hawkers on how to adhere to Covid-19 norms.
Many hawkers were given on-spot training on Sunday on how to deal with customers. “Besides wearing a mask, the hawkers need to keep sanitizers and offer the same if demanded by a customer,” said Debraj Ghosh, a hawker union leader at Gariahat.
At Hatibagan, too, hawkers were preparing to resume business. Here, over 200 hawkers were back in business on June 1. “From Monday, all hawkers of Hatibagan-Shyambazar area will be back on the pavements. We expect 500 more to join us on Monday,” said a hawker union leader at Hatibagan. A section of hawkers at Chowringhee is expected to start its business afresh from Monday as well.
Hawkers who had left the pavements in the officepara of Salt Lake, Sector V and New Town at the start of the lockdown were gradually returning. Most of them are set to resume business this week as offices and commercial establishments open from Monday.
In Salt Lake, about 30%-40% of hawkers have already returned in front of the CGO complex. The same was seen on the stretches from Purta Bhavan to Mayukh Bhavan extending up to Bikash Bhavan.
Source: Times of India
